Leonard Muzyn's TVARS Blog

Revised and updated on June 23, 2016 Please click here to download the appellate courtroom audio of “15-6019 Charles T Evans vs Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement System TVA” from June 14, 2016.  The attorney for the plaintiffs speaks first, followed by the attorney for TVARS, followed by the attorney with TVA’s OGC.  The appellate court judges seemed very interested and asked many questions.  The oral arguments lasted over twice as long as scheduled.  All sides seemed to agree that the district court erred in finding that TVA retirees and employees did not have the right of judicial review.  I was very impressed with plaintiffs’ attorney Michael Wall who spoke first and made some clarifications at the end.  I believe he did an excellent job answering the judges questions and citing case law to support his arguments.  He also seemed to have a real mastery of the TVARS rules. TVA’s OGC attorney Edward Meade speaks about the “apparently inconsistent positions of the TVARS bo

I voted against the amendments scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2016 because they reduce earned benefits the board has determined are vested.  They also authorize TVA to inadequately fund the remaining benefits for the next 20 years.  They reduce benefits by about $700 million.  Even after this reduction, actuarial projections indicate that the 20-year funding requirements will not be enough to fully pay the remaining benefits.  In addition, these amendments transfer significant stock market risk to the plan’s beneficiaries while giving the board the authority to suspend TVA’s contributions to the plan for any reason. TVA will still be able to terminate the plan at any time. TVA’s agreeing that the remaining COLAs are vested gives the beneficiaries nothing because the rules clearly state that the retirement board determines what benefits are to be paid.  The board has already determined and informed the court hearing the pending lawsuit that COLAs are vested benefits.  Passa

Benefits Changes Not Significant for Retirees By SUZAN BOWMAN, TVARA Valleywide President [Leonard Muzyn’s comments are in brackets.] What a wild ride 2016 has been so far! As I write this, we were just notified that the TVA Retirement System Board voted to accept TVA’s latest proposal on changes in retirement benefits (see article on this page). The actual wording of the amendments had not been finalized at this time. [Am I the only person concerned that a vote was taken before the actual wording was available?] Overall, the changes are not going to have significant impact on TVA retirees. [An average loss of almost $10,000 per retiree is not significant? Maybe it’s all relative. Some retirees do receive very large pensions and this proposal did hit future retirees, or current employees, harder.] You should not see any changes in your current check amounts. [A reduction in next year’s increase may feel OK now because it is a year away, but it is still a reduction.] More go